The Sims

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The Sims
Developer(s)	Maxis
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Will Wright
Engine	Custom
Release date(s)	US February 4, 2000 BR February 4, 2000 EU February 28, 2000
Genre(s)	Life simulation game God game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen) ELSPA: 15+ PEGI: 7+ OFLC: G8+
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
Media	1 CD + Installation Discs and The Sims 2 sneak preview CD with Makin' Magic
System requirements	Microsoft Windows Windows 95 and up, 233 MHz to 450 MHz Pentium II or faster, 64 MB RAM, 4x or faster CD-ROM drive, DirectX 6.0-compatible sound card and graphics card (card must have 2 MB onboard memory and able to display at 800x600 with 16-bit color) Linux Linux Kernel 2.2 or higher, Glibc 2.1.3 or higher, XFree86 4.0 or higher or equivalent, 350 MHz Celeron/Pentium II/Duron/Athlon or faster or equivalent, 64Mb of ram, 128 recommended, sound card supporting OSS or ALSA, video card capable of 16 bit color and 800x600 resolution, nvidia GeForce GPU recommended with 16mb of video ram. (NOTE: This is the ported Linux version from TransGaming) Apple Macintosh Mac OS X 10.0.3 or later -or- Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x with CarbonLib 1.2.5 or later, 233 MHz or faster PowerPC G3 or G4, 64 MB RAM (Mac OS 8/9) or 128 MB RAM (Mac OS X), G3/333 MHz recommended; 128 MB of RAM
Input	Keyboard & mouse

The Sims is a strategic life simulation computer game created by game designer Will Wright, published by Maxis, and distributed by Electronic Arts. The game is a simulation of the day-to-day activities of one or more virtual people (dubbed "Sims") in a suburban household located near SimCity.

First released on February 4, 2000, the base game has sold more than 6.3 million copies, making it the best-selling PC game in history.^[1] The franchise has sold over 70 million units worldwide as of January 2007.^[2] Since its initial release, seven expansion packs and a sequel, The Sims 2 (with its own expansion packs), have been released. The Sims has won numerous awards, including GameSpot's PC Game of the Year Award for 2000.

[edit] Overview

As with many Maxis games, The Sims is a departure from most other computer games, which tend to have a definite goal or objective. Instead, the game focuses entirely on the "lives" of virtual people called "Sims," placing the player in control of their virtual "world", and their daily activities such as sleeping, eating, cooking and bathing, to name a few. Will Wright, the game's designer, likes to refer to it as a "digital dollhouse." Though players are encouraged to make their own characters, certain pre-made characters have become popular in their own right.

[edit] Origins and development

Title screen from a short promotional video for The Sims released on the SimCity 3000 installation CD.

The idea for The Sims is thought to be drawn from Will Wright's experience in the 1991 Oakland firestorm, when his house and many of his possessions were burned down in the fire.^[3][4] As such, Wright was required to move his family elsewhere and rebuild his life; these events led to Will's inspiration of creating a simulated game about life. The game is also loosely based on SimCity, another computer game designed by Wright in which the player must manage a city and its citizenry, dubbed "Sims." The idea of "simulated people" led Wright to believe that he could program and design the perfect construct of the main aspects that a computer or video game possesses.

Wright originally proposed the idea of a virtual "dollhouse" to Maxis in 1993 while the idea was still in development, although the proposal was met with skepticism by staff;^[5] computer hardware during the period was not thought to be capable of running such a simulation smoothly. In 1995, Wright was offered an opportunity from Electronic Arts to continue developing the concept and game so that EA could publish it.^{[verification needed]} Development of the game, initially dubbed "Project X," commenced in 1995.^{[verification needed]}

After production for the game finally began in 1995, Wright was interviewed about his idea in a PC Magazine article published around 1995, in which he talked about the chance for players to control a computer generated character in their own environment.^{[verification needed]}

In 1997, the name of the game was changed from "Project X" to "The Sims" as a reference to Will Wright's earlier "Sim" games, which had been relatively successful in the early- to mid-1990s.

[edit] Gameplay and design

This screenshot of The Sims shows a large family inhabiting one house. The focus is currently on the sunglasses-clad character, who can be identified by the green diamond or "plumbob" over his head. His portrait is highlighted in the control bar. By looking at the color of the diamond and his statistics, the user can see that he is currently very content.

Instead of objectives, the player is encouraged to make choices and engage fully in an interactive environment. As such, the game has successfully attracted casual gamers. The only real objective of the game is to organize the Sims' time to help them reach personal goals.

Sims are directed totally on the basis of instructing them to interact with objects, such as a television set, a radio, or another Sim. Sims may receive house guests, which are actually based on the Sims of other game files. The player cannot control 'visiting' Sims, although it is important for Sims to interact with one another in order to develop a healthy social life.

Sims have a certain amount of free will (if it is enabled in-game), and although the player can instruct them to do something, they may decide that something else needs to be done first, or even outright ignore the player's commands. Unlike the simulated environments in games such as SimCity, SimEarth, or SimLife, the Sims are not fully autonomous. They are unable to take certain actions without specific commands from the player, such as paying their bills. Thus, if left alone, without any player supervision, the Sims will eventually develop overdue bills and their property will be repossessed.

The player must make decisions about time spent in personal development, such as exercise, reading, creativity, and logic, by adding activities to the daily agenda of the Sims. Daily maintenance requirements must also be scheduled, such as personal hygiene, eating, and sleeping. If the simulated humans do not perform the proper amount of maintenance, they will sicken and die. Furthermore, Sims need to have fun; if they don't, the fun level bar eventually lowers and they become depressed, but however depressed they become, they are unable to commit suicide (they are not programmed to do so). They are, however, able to be nasty to other Sim characters by insulting them, slapping them and even attacking them. Financial health is simulated by the need to send the Sims to find jobs, go to work, pay bills, and take advantage of personal development and social contacts to advance in their jobs.

The inner structure of the game is actually an agent based artificial life program. The presentation of the game's artificial intelligence is advanced, and the Sims will respond to outside conditions by themselves, although often the player/controller's intervention is necessary to keep them on the right track. The Sims technically has unlimited replay value, in that there is no way to win the game, and the player can play on indefinitely. It has been described as more like a toy than a game.

That The Sims reflects aspects of reality makes the game itself of note, especially as virtually every prior entertainment program used one or more aspects of fantasy to entertain (from Disney characters to alien ships). Simple, real-life situations, such as adopting children or forming relationships replace merely earning points and advancing to the "final boss level."

A neighborhood in The Sims consists of a single screen displaying all playable houses.

In addition, the game includes a very advanced architecture system. The game was originally designed as an architecture simulation alone, with the Sims there only to evaluate the houses.^[5] During development it was decided that the Sims were more interesting than the houses. This is a common trait in Maxis games. SimCity was originally designed as a method for developers to create cities to include in a bomber game that Wright was creating and SimTower was originally designed to reverse-engineer real world elevator algorithms.^{[citation needed]}

There are some limitations to the first game of The Sims, most notably that children in the first series never grow up to become adults, though babies do eventually become children. Also, adult Sims never age (or die of old age), and there is no concept of a weekend. For example, adults go to work every day, and children go to school every day. However, taking one day off from work or school is okay, but taking off two consecutive days has consequences, such as getting fired. Children can also be "homeschooled", by having them study during the day to keep their school grades up.

While there is no eventual objective to the game, a state of failure does exist in that Sims may die. The types of death include starvation, drowning, perishing in a fire, electrocution and by virus (contracted from a pet guinea pig, which can happen when its cage is left dirty). In addition, child Sims can be sent to military school if their school grades remain at F for several consecutive days. When sent to military school, children never return to the family. Although considered a state of failure, many players occasionally deliberately mistreat their Sims to observe the reactions. This can be done with no consequences if the game state isn't saved.

The Sims uses a combination of 3D and 2D graphics techniques. the Sims themselves are rendered as high-poly-count 3D objects, but the house, and all its objects, are pre-rendered, and displayed diametrically.

[edit] Reception

In 2002, The Sims became the top-selling PC game in history, displacing the game Myst. Critic praised it with positive reviews. It has been a success in many ways—attracting casual gamers and female gamers (which account for 50% of sales) —unusual in a market traditionally dominated by young males. Open-ended gameplay has been done before in games, such as the farming-based simulation series Harvest Moon (a 1997 game originally released for the SNES), but The Sims has certainly gained popularity for this particular style of gameplay. Games such as Nintendo's Animal Crossing (GameCube), have capitalized upon its success.

[edit] Simlish language

Main article: Simlish

Sims speak a fictional language called Simlish. The language is nonsensical, and owes much to the improv comedians (Gerri Lawlor, Marc Gimbel and Stephen Kearin, among others) who provided impromptu utterances while recording voice-overs for the game.

While there is no direct translation for Simlish, many fans have attempted to record and create dictionaries of often-used words. Many have speculated that the Simlish language has a close resemblance to the Italian or Latin language, while others suggest that it resembles Japanese.

If the Makin' Magic expansion pack is installed before any other expansion packs, the language spoken by Sims is slightly different.^{[citation needed]} The Sims Bustin' Out also features a slightly different Simlish lexicon that most notably uses "babyar" instead of "nooboo" to represent the term "baby".

[edit] Expansion packs

A sim enjoying playing with a virtual reality set on The Sims: Deluxe Edition.

The Sims is one of the most heavily expanded computer game franchises ever. In all, a total of seven expansion packs were produced for The Sims (listed in chronological order):

• Livin' Large, released August 2000, adds more home objects, events, Sims, careers, and the ability to establish multiple neighborhoods.
• House Party, released March 2001, adds party-related content, such as lighted dance floors.
• Hot Date, released November 2001, allows Sims to meet or pick up other Sims for romantic encounters in a new city environment, dubbed "Downtown." Downtown also allows Sims to eat, play and purchase items, such as clothing, gifts and magazines.
• Vacation, released March 2002, allows the player to take Sims to various vacation destinations, such as beaches and the woods for camping.
• Unleashed, released September 2002, gives Sims the ability to adopt and train a wide variety of pets, allow Sims to grow crops, and expands the neighborhood, including the addition of a New Orleans-themed town, dubbed "Old Town."
• Superstar, released May 2003, allows Sims to visit a Hollywood-like town called "Studio Town" and become celebrities.
• Makin' Magic, released October 2003, allows Sims to use magic and cast spells and introduces a new Magic Town area.

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Compilations with the original The Sims game

The Sims has now been repackaged in numerous editions. These editions are not expansions in themselves, but rather a compilation of the basic game plus pre-existing expansion packs and additional game content. These editions include:

[edit] North American releases

[edit] Releases in other regions

[edit] Compilations of expansion packs

An expansion collection series was released in 2005:

• The Sims: Expansion Collection Volume One consists of The Sims: Unleashed and The Sims: House Party.
• The Sims: Expansion Collection Volume Two consists of The Sims: Hot Date and The Sims: Makin' Magic.
• The Sims: Expansion Collection Volume Three consists of The Sims: Vacation and The Sims: Superstar.

Another expansion collection series was also released in 2005:

• The Sims: Expansion Three-Pack Volume 1 consists of The Sims: Unleashed, The Sims: Superstar, and The Sims: House Party.
• The Sims: Expansion Three-Pack Volume 2 consists of The Sims: Hot Date, The Sims: Vacation, and The Sims: Makin' Magic.

[edit] Sequels

[edit] The Sims Online

Main article: The Sims Online

In December 2002, Maxis shipped The Sims Online, which recreates The Sims as an MMORPG, where actual human players can interact with each other. This sequel did not achieve the same level of success as the original The Sims game that producers and developers thought it would.

Reviews for The Sims Online have been lackluster. Many reviewers have likened The Sims Online experience to an enormous chat room where few participants, if any, have anything worthwhile to say.

Of particular interest are reports that the community has degenerated heavily, verging on the anarchistic. Prostitution and other questionable activities are now commonplace. Naturally, this brings into question the scope for games such as this to be properly moderated. [2]

[edit] The Sims 2

Main article: The Sims 2

Maxis released The Sims 2 on September 14, 2004. The sequel takes place in a full 3D environment, as opposed to the combination 2D/3D ("2.5-D" or Isometric) environment of the original game. Other additions to the original gameplay include Sims that grow from infancy to adulthood, then age and eventually die. This game features clear "days of the week" with obvious weekends for children to stay home from school, as well as "vacation days" to take time off work, an "Aspiration Meter" that increases and decreases as a Sim fulfills specific desires and experiences its worst fears, and "Aspiration Rewards" which can be "bought" with "Aspiration Points" that are earned each time a want is successfully filled.

The Sims 2 is set some 25 years later after the original game, and also integrates a storyline into the game. For instance, the Pleasant family (available in the family bin in ‘‘Sims 1’’) has settled in a suburban neighborhood, and their family tree panels reveals relationships with the original Pleasant family from the Sims 1. Additionally, the Goth family has aged significantly, while Bella Goth has mysteriously vanished (suggestively from an alien abduction).

Because faces and neighborhoods are handled in very different ways, objects had to migrate from 2-D sprites to 3-D models, and some objects (particularly those contained in expansion packs) were not copied at all. The Sims 2 was not made backwards-compatible with any Sims 1 content. There have been several expansion packs and add-ons released for The Sims 2.

[edit] The Sims 3

The Sims 3 is an unofficially announced and upcoming sequel to The Sims 2. It is currently in development, and will be distributed by Electronic Arts. It is "likely to be a fiscal '09 title," according to EA chief financial officer Warren Jenson.^[6]

[edit] MySims

Main article: MySims

MySims is a Japanese game created by EA exclusively for the Wii and Nintendo DS. It will feature Mii-like, chibi-style characters for avatars (similar to Animal Crossing). The game is set to be released in 2007 in Japan, North America and Europe.

[edit] The Sims Stories

Main article: The Sims Stories

The Sims Stories is a series of computer games from The Sims series optimized for play on laptops, but can still be played on desktops. At present, one game has been released, with two others to be released later.

[edit] Ports

The Sims has been ported from Microsoft Windows to some video game consoles. Though sales have been respectable, the series is not nearly as big a hit as it has been on the PC.

• The Sims (released in January 2003), first console version of The Sims on the PlayStation 2. Later released for GameCube and Xbox.
• The Sims Bustin' Out (released in December 2003): the second console and Game Boy Advance-based versions of The Sims as an RPG where the player guides Sims to move into Malcolm's Mansion. It can be played with two players and provides the added ability to visit external locales ('Community' lots).
• The Urbz: Sims in the City (released in November 2004): This version renames the "Sims" to "Urbz" and gives them fresh, new attitudes that were previously either scarce or nonexistent in previous incarnations of the simulated beings. The Urbz is set in various districts throughout an urban environment, with each having its own unique Urbz and elements. The Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions are less complex.
• The Sims and all its expansion packs were ported to the Macintosh by Aspyr Media, Inc.
• The Sims was ported to the GNU/Linux platform using Transgaming's WineX technology (now known as Cedega) and was bundled with Mandrake Linux Gaming Edition. However, both WineX and the Cedega engine are unable to run the Windows version of the game. The original port will no longer run on modern Linux distributions and is unable to accept the various add-on packs intended for the Windows version.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official sites
  • The Sims official web site
  • The Sims 2 official web site

• Fan and resource sites
  • The Sims at MobyGames
  • The Sims programmer Don Hopkins' web site
  • Sims Showcase, featuring the latest updates of fan sites.
  • Searchable directory of Sims fan sites
  • The Sims Wikia